Holy Mackerel: techie Mike Cannon-Brookes heads to secret beach getaway

There are few pitfalls of being a newly minted billionaire in Sydney, but a distinct lack of privacy when it comes to buying a beachfront getaway is likely one of them.

Consider the plight of techie Mike Cannon-Brookes, whose tranquil visit to the secluded shores of Pittwater’s Great Mackerel Beach by ferry last weekend sparked speculation he is the mystery buyer of one of its prized beachfront houses.

A search through records shows the beachfront house that hosted the Atlassian co-chief executive recently settled for about $2.3 million following a marketing campaign by Kathryn Hall Real Estate, and lodged in a company name headed by Cannon-Brookes’ buyer’s agent Steve Smith.

Certainly the isolated getaway set into the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a far more low-key holiday spot than the beachfront Palm Beach house Cannon-Brookes bought directly across the water in 2013 for $8.7 million.

While Palm Beach locals proudly boast a who’s who of corporate leaders and cashed-up bankers among their ranks, Great Mackerel Beach prides itself on its natural beauty, the absence of cars, and more discreet neighbours who share a penchant for privacy.

But sharing the same ferry route are pesky locals from other hamlets on Pittwater’s foreshore less enamoured with keeping the financial affairs of the billionaire class private – like yours truly.

While a spokesperson for Cannon-Brookes offered no comment, Smith refused to link his purchase with Cannon-Brookes, saying only that it was an investment fund on behalf of clients.

Intriguingly the same corporate entity also bought a $4.3 million apartment last October in a block of 12 that backs onto Cannon-Brookes’ Fairwater estate.

Surely the tech head isn’t planning to eventually buy out the entire block, thereby ridding his $100 million estate of any privacy concerns from next door? No, says Smith. That was just another investment fund purchase.

Well, that’s that then.

Brindisi to flick the switch on Mosman 

Rino Brindisi, head of Italian lighting giant in Australia iGuzzini and one of the presenters on Network Ten’s Australia By Design, is selling his Mosman residence for $12.5 million to $13.5 million.

The three-level residence was designed by Corben Architects under commission by the then Southern Highlands-bound founder of Rex Airlines Michael Jones and his wife Michelle, who sold it virtually new in late 2008 for $8.15 million to Brindisi and his wife Linda.

At the time the Jones’s sold they were headed to the Southern Highlands, paying $4.65 million for the Fitzroy Falls property Aberdeen Estate next door to retired radio man Alan Jones.

Brindisi, who doubles at this time of year as a volunteer ski patroller at Thredbo, listed the five-bedroom residence with gym, cellar, sauna, and pool for expressions of interest until August 25 through Belle Property Mosman’s Tim Foote.

Sale creates a buzz in Whale Beach 

There are only four houses on Whale Beach’s The Strand, so when they hit the market, expect excited chatter from locals. So it was this week when Platypus Asset Management chairman Nick Wright listed his getaway for about $12 million.

The Paddington-based Wright bought the house fronting the beachfront car lot in 2010 for $7.37 million from the Ferguson family, who had held it for three generations since 1955 when Dr William Ferguson bought it for £1400.

Belle Property’s Laura Mears is taking expressions of interest until September 10.

Jaggards moving on from Manly 

Gold bullion traders Kurt and Nathalie Jaggard may buy some of the north shore’s finest homes, but they never stay put in them long, so it is perhaps not too surprising to see they have listed their Manly house Brise de Mer just two years after they bought it.

Clarke & Humel’s Michael Clarke is asking about $10 million for the recently renovated house on North Steyne – the last remaining original beach house fronting Manly Beach.

It last traded two years ago for $7.75 million when sold by pharmaceutical industry boss John Loveridge.

From heritage Adelaide to historic Sydney

In economic circles Mark Britten-Jones is the former managing director of global asset manager BlackRock who went on to co-found US-based quantitive global macro hedge fund Laurel Canyon Parner, but among trophy home watchers it is his sale of Adelaide’s historic Ivanhoe mansion for a record $7 million in 2016 that has earned him the most news coverage.

To think that 13-room residence with tennis court and swimming pool on 4346 square metres sold for just a smidge more than the $6.67 million Britten-Jones and his partner Lucy Gill have paid for an equally old but far smaller house in Double Bay.

The couple’s recently purchased four-bedroom house on a corner block of 580 square metres was long owned by orthopaedic surgeon John Quain and his wife Jennifer, who bought it for $1.45 million in 1997.

It was sold by father and son team Michael and James Dunn, of Richardson & Wrench Double Bay.